BUILDINGS · INTERMEDIATE

Roofs & tiles

Most nativities are seen from slightly above, so roofs make up about half of what people see. Yet they’re usually the most rushed part, just cardboard painted red. Four types of roofing cover every style, and none of them is hard.

Roof pitch by region

The slope of a roof is the clearest clue to where a village is, and people pick up on it instantly.

Region Pitch Covering
Provence, Mediterranean Low — 25 to 30% (about 15°) Barrel tiles
Alpine mountains Medium, deep overhang Shingles, stone slabs, metal
Northern Europe, Alsace Steep — 45 to 60° Flat tiles, slate
Countryside, outbuildings Varies Thatch

A steep roof on a Provençal house, or a flat roof under snow, sticks out right away. Choose the roof slope when you choose your style.

The roof pitch tells the regionProvence25 to 30%barrel tilesMountainsmedium,deep overhangNorth, Alsace45 to 60°flat tilesThatchvariesoutbuildingsA steep roof on a Provençal house gets noticed before anything else.

Materials

  • Heavy cardboard or 1/16-inch (2 mm) plywood for the roof deck
  • Air-dry modeling compound or self-hardening clay for barrel tiles
  • A round pencil or a ¼-inch (6 mm) dowel as a bending form
  • Thin card, kraft paper or real slate sheets for stone slabs
  • Thin wooden sticks, or veneer, for shingles
  • Sisal, jute or raffia for thatch
  • White glue, tweezers, utility knife
  • Matte acrylics: red ocher, umber, Payne’s gray, olive green, white

Barrel tiles

These are the curved clay tiles of southern France, laid in alternating rows: one row curved side down to form channels, the next row curved side up as caps over the gaps. It’s the most recognizable roof and the most fun to make.

  1. Make the tiles

    Roll the clay out to about 1/16 inch (2 mm) thick, cut rectangles about ½ × ⅜ inch (1.2 × 0.8 cm), then curve each one over a round pencil. Let them firm up on the pencil for a few minutes before sliding them off.

  2. Make lots of them

    Plan on 60 to 80 tiles for a small 4 × 3-inch roof. That’s one movie night’s worth. Make 20% extra, because some will break.

  3. Lay from the bottom up

    Lay the channel rows first, one tile’s width apart. Then add the caps over the gaps. Each row should overlap the one below by about a third.

  4. Make it irregular

    Shift one tile in five a little, tilt another, break one. A perfectly even roof looks like sheet metal.

A shortcut that works: cut tiles from a cardboard paper-towel tube, first into rings, then into quarters. The curve is built in. It’s less refined than clay, but ten times faster, and perfect for roofs in the background.

Barrel tiles: channels and capschannel: hollow side upcap: over the jointsin cross-section½ in0,8molded on a round pencilcompound 1/16 in thick60 to 80 tiles for a 4 × 3-inch roof, plus 20% for breakage.Each row overlaps the one below by a third.

Stone slabs and slate

Flat stones laid like fish scales, bigger at the bottom of the roof and smaller at the top. That change in size is the sign of a real stone roof.

  • Cut irregular plates from thin card or heavy kraft paper: from ½ inch wide at the bottom to ¼ inch at the top.
  • Lay them staggered, from the bottom up, overlapping by half.
  • Don’t line them up: one slab askew, another slightly lifted.
  • Paint a very muted slate gray, then dry-brush pale gray, with touches of green and ocher for lichens.

Want real slate? Hobby stores sell thin slate sheets you can cut with scissors. They look great, but they’re heavier.

Stone slabs: larger at the bottom than at the top¼ in at the top½ in at the bottomlaid staggered,overlapping by halfMuted slate gray, light dry-brushing, touches of green and ocher for the lichens.

Wooden shingles

The roof for chalets and mountain barns, and the easiest of the four.

Cut rectangles of thin wood about ⅜ × ¼ inch and lay them staggered, overlapping by two-thirds. Let one in ten stick out, and break one. Then add a very thin brown wash and a gray dry-brush: roof wood always weathers to gray.

On a mountain roof, line up a few flat stones near the peak. They held the shingles down against the wind, and it’s a real detail that people recognize.

The shingles of a mountain roofRectangles about ⅜ × ¼ inch, overlapping by two-thirds, staggered.flat stones near the ridge

Thatch

For a sheep barn, a shed or a very humble stable, which makes it perfect for the Nativity stable itself.

  1. Prepare the bundles

    Cut sisal, raffia or untwisted linen string into 1¼-inch (3 cm) pieces and gather them into small bundles.

  2. Glue in rows

    Run a line of white glue and lay a row of bundles flat, strands pointing down. Then add the next row on top, covering the glue.

  3. Trim at the end

    Trim with scissors, leaving a thick, slightly uneven bottom edge. Thatch ends in a rounded edge, not a straight line.

  4. Tint

    Add a very thin brown wash, darker in the hollows and toward the bottom. New thatch is golden. Old thatch is grayish brown.

Eave cornice, ridge, overhangs

Three details that make a roof look real instead of like a board laid on top:

  • The génoise: two or three rows of stacked curved tiles stepping out under the edge of a Provençal roof. It keeps rainwater off the wall, and it instantly says “southern France.” Three half-tiles glued in steps are enough.
  • The ridge: the row of tiles straddling the peak. Don’t skip it: a roof without one shows how it’s built and ruins the effect.
  • The overhangs: a roof always sticks out past the walls. Just a little in the South (about ⅛ inch at this scale), a lot in the mountains (up to ⅝ inch). A roof that’s flush with the walls looks like a lid.
Eave cornice, ridge and overhangsridgegénoise2 or 3 rows under the eavesSouth: small overhang, about ⅛ in⅝ inMountains: deep overhang, up to ⅝ inA roof flush with the walls looks like a lid.

Aging a roof

Use the four steps of weathering, with a few extra tips:

  1. Never bright red

    Even a new tile is reddish brown, not red. Start with red ocher toned down with brown, never pure red.

  2. Vary tile by tile

    Mix two or three shades unevenly. A roof in one color looks flat.

  3. Lichen and moss

    Dab very thin olive green and yellow on the north side and in the hollows, never all over. Glue a little fine flock into two or three hollows.

  4. Streaks

    Apply very thin brown at the top of the slope and let it run down. Keep the roof tilted while it dries.

  5. The final dry-brushing

    A pale gray, with almost no paint on the brush, swept flat across the roof. It catches the edge of every tile and brings out all the texture. This is the step that shows off all your work.